Angola GP

Does anyone have details and results about the motor races that were held in the Southern African country, Angola during the early 1960's. I presume that the competitors were mostly from South Africa and also Portugal. Perhaps Angola itself had a few decent racing drivers at the time?

I also somehow, recall that there were more than one circuit in use in that country. Was this also not the place where a spectator bridge collapsed right in front of the on coming racing cars?

Thinking of it today, it is hard to imagine that countries like Angola and Mozambique could host motor sport events.

A track located in the Angolan seaside town of Benguela, it featured a 3.9588km long circuit and a 2.7774km short circuit alongside the Praia Morena beach. Used in the 1960s for sportscar racing.

A street circuit used for GT racing in the 1970s. The most memorable occurance is the collapse of the spectator bridge on the Start/Finish line during the 1972 event. The town was subsequently renamed Huambo.

Restinga - A track located in the town of Lobito alongside Restinga beach in Angola. Used in the 1960s.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Darren Galpin
[B]
A track located in the Angolan seaside town of Benguela, it featured a 3.9588km long circuit and a 2.7774km short circuit alongside the Praia Morena beach. Used in the 1960s for sportscar racing.

Stumble upon some info. It mentions that de Oliveira won a race on 5 October 1961 in a Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta. The race was on the Fortaleza Circuit I mentioned before. Do not know what the race was called, maybe not the Angola GP.

The Angolan Motor Sport Club seems to have owned a couple of decent cars from time to time (back in the late 50's/early '60s) or entered them on behalf of its members/drivers.

Alvaro Lopes was the top Angolan driver of the era. But there was also Maximo Correira (check the spelling?).

The club at one time owned, amongst others, a brace of Maserati 300S cars and later a Lotus 30.

It appears that the Angolan GP (for sportscars) was held a week or so after the Leopoldville Race in the then Belgian Congo. From the results I have seen an ERA; and the Bill Jennings built Riley Special (driven by John Love) also took part though.

The Belgian race was supported by Belgian drivers who generally later raced at Angola.

Also invited to these races were South African and Rhodesian drivers.

It seems that Sabena flew the Belgian teams to the races and that TAP airline flew the Portugese teams. The South African drivers went by ship, as did the Rhodesians - from Beira, except for George Phaff who once travelled overland from Rhodesia - a 12 day trip to Leopoldville!

These seem to have been great races.

I just wish I could get some reports in Portugese or Flemish as the British and South Africa press gave little coverage.

PS - I have seen a photo of Christian Goethals, who competed in these events circa 1959, getting out of the cockpit of his Porsche 550 Spyder wearing shorts and a T-shirt! THOSE WERE the days. Leopoldville must be on the equator. It must have been hot!

Now I'd like to find out WHICH races were held at WHICH track?
We have 3 candidates: Nuova Lisboa according to Flying Panda from 57 through to 65 (any results from 63-65?); Darren has Benguela for early 1960 races or Fortaleza (not the Brazilian track) in
61/62 according to O Volante.
Seems tricky..

Tonio Hildebrands' book "Het gaat niet om geld" mentions an invitation race in Angola, Luanda street circuit. I suppose it's the 1964 race? He mentions the winner, Mairesse, who just had recovered from broken hands. Tonio had an accident but could drive on, which would explain his low finishing position. He mentions too that Ben Pon finished well, and subsequently sold his car. Ben is not mentioned in the results, however.

If anyone is interested, I could translate the chapter in broken English. It's quite a tongue-in-cheek book, by the way.

On the issue of translation - Go for it Frank, give us some information about the book you mentioned! I guess they must give a copy of this book to every current F1 driver, for Christmas. I think in their case "IT IS ALL ABOUT MONEY"!!

I see the name of Curt Lincoln as winner of the 1959 Angola GP. Was he not the brother or father of Jochen Rindt's wife, Nina?

I'll give a rundown on Tonio's chapter about racing in Angola. From the book "Het gaat niet om geld" (It's not the money that counts), 1973, by Tonio Hildebrand/Martin van Amerongen, ISBN 90 295 1935 5.

"I was invited by the Automovel e Touring Club di Angola to race on the street circuit of Luanda, in Angola. Gerard van Lennep (Gijs' brother, FdJ) went along, being the manager and team owner. Free airline tickets, 1000 guilders starting money, free transport of the car and the prospect of a photo safari, organized by the government. Ben Pon would race there too, in a Porsche Carrera Abarth."
Follows a description of the journey, including the loss of all of Tonio and Gerard's luggage. In Paris they changed plane, and met Willy Mairesse:
"Willy Mairesse, who was entered in the same race, was squeezing a cola bottle for hours. He had left hospital only yesterday, and was exercising his barely-healed broken hands. He would win in Angola anyway. A few years later, when he wasn't fast enough anymore, he committed suicide in a room in Oostende."
The journey continues. The luggage of Mr and Ms Pon disappears as well.
"The circuit wasn't bad, with rather high curbstones. Practice was easy."
"Then the day came of the Grand Prix d'Angola. The whole center of the city was closed. The mothers who went to the market in the morning, discovered in the afternoon that their houses were blocked by a fence, therefore they could reach their children only after buying an entry ticket of 8 guilders (a guilder is about 0,45 Euro). The government was organizer, and governmental flexibility was non-existent in Angola.
Local talent had a go first, with a touring car race. The starting line was at the large boulevard. The pits was at the seaside. Opposite was a mountain on which something like 100,000 spectators were gathered. The local Mafia king, chairman of the local automobile club as well, was in charge of the starting flag. The Jaguar on the front row didn't take notion of the man, and accelerated away, before the flag was dropped . Whistles and boo-shouting. The moment the starter had realized what was going on, the cars passed for their second lap.
Now it was time for the race for professionals. what happens once may succeed twice, I thought, when I was moving to the second row of the grid. The moment the Mafia king grasped the flag, I accelerated away. Cheers from the pits when I led the race. I saw myself standing on the rostrum, golden trophy in hand, 10,000 guilders for the winner in the pocket. Alas, overwhelmed by this success I underestimated the small kink in the corner, next to the local Hotel Continental. Bianchi and Müller were interested in the 10,000 guilders as well, and they - no tougher than me, yet far more professional - surrounded me left and right. I'll die, but I'll drive on, I thought. We don't die and we'll drive on too, they thought. The result was that I landed on the stairs of the Continental Hotel. Müller and Bianchi drove on to win the race respectively become second. For me, a lot of damage was prevented by a huge pile of sandbags which protected the entrance. Six soldiers, lead by a Sergeant, appeared and threw me back on the circuit. It wouldn't have been all that bad, if the car didn't happen to be made of polyester (A Lotus 23, FdJ). This stuff was cracking and breaking up. On top of it, the car had become nose-less and following that, if the car came to speed on the straight, the wind forcefully blew into the car, and snatched away a small piece each time: a piece of the wing, a mirror, a pice of the window. Even worse, once in a while I received a piece of glass fiber - in the face, which is not a problem for a Big Boy; but I was bleeding like hell. So imagine racing in tropical heat, blinded by a black slice of blood on your face in a car which is losing substance each lap. It became clear that I wouldn't be the winner today. I came home ninth, Ben Pon came fifth, which was quite an achievement - considering he was the only one in a closed car, almost roasted by the sun."

Some readers might ask who actually won this race. Was it Mairesse or Müller? Although Tonio was a fine racer, his book is hardly a factbook. The book was written in 1973, the race was probably 1963, if we take a look at the winners. Mairesse won in 1964. Don't blame Tonio too much - he couldn't check the internet back in 1973.

As far as I know, Tonio is still alive, albeit his health has suffered.

Originally posted by Frank de Jong Tonio Hildebrands' book "Het gaat niet om geld" mentions an invitation race in Angola, Luanda street circuit. I suppose it's the 1964 race? He mentions the winner, Mairesse, who just had recovered from broken hands. Tonio had an accident but could drive on, which would explain his low finishing position. He mentions too that Ben Pon finished well, and subsequently sold his car. Ben is not mentioned in the results, however.

If anyone is interested, I could translate the chapter in broken English. It's quite a tongue-in-cheek book, by the way.

Frank

I always wondered: is Tonio Hildebrand the same man who ran the Straight Six car dealership in London in the 1980s and 1990's? And also the same man that ran Boy Hayje in Shellsport G8 in 1975-ish?

I'm not sure at straight six; he most certainly was part of the HHH gang (Hezemans-Hildebrand-Hayje), racing the 1975 March 731G-V6 (the car was even renamed March 731HH - Hezemans and Hildebrand) and Ralt RT1 F3 in 1976.

Dutch GP 1960 - Dan Gurney's BRM lost its brakes and somersaulted straight on at the Tarzan Loop. His car struck and fatally injured a young man standing in a prohibited area. Does anyone have a reference to the unfortunate victim's name???????

1. Perhaps Andre Verwey, of Gemini Transmissions, who builds gears for Formula One and Touring cars, could tell a bit about Luanda. He went there in the mid 70's to manage the track. He might be able to explain the existence of the T33.

2. From Classic Car Africa, July 2000,, on the story of Dr Dawie Gous.

"....I needed the money to buy the Porsche RS62 Spyder and a 2-liter Carrera Abarth."

Dawie purchased these cars on a visit to Luanda in Oct. 63 to take part in the Angolan GP around the streets of the capital. He acquired the RS62, the winning car in the race, from the Swiss hillclimb exponent Herman Muller and bought the Porsche Abarth GTs from the Dutch driven Ben Pon, who finished 5th in the Angolan race on 6 Oct. Dawie's own race ended when his old RS Spyder (550) picked up a puncture and hit a kerb."

"Dawie, nevertheless, enjoyed a few more outings in the Elva (Porsche) in 1965, finishing 5th in the Angloan GP on 28 November and 3rd with (Luki) Botha in the 3 Hour Race at Roy Hesketh circuit on 27 December."

I'd like to add another piece of Hildebrand's stoty on the Angola GP:
"We weren't that dissatisfied at the end. Ben Pon got a decent amount of money for his finishing position - something like 5,000 guilders - and was able to sell the car at a good price."
This is in line with the post above - it was therefore indeed the 1963 race.

My belated thanks to Frank de Jong for the translation of the pages from "Het gaan niet om geld". Very interesting.

While we have been discussing Frank's photo from the 1960 Dutch GP and also Doug Nye's question about the unfortunate boy that was fatally injured by Gurney's car, I wish to refer to my comment in the opening thread with regards to the bridge that collapsed in front of the cars in the 1972 Angola race. I recall seeing some film footage of this incident. Can't remember if it was in programme on local TV or in a video (Havoc?). Has anyone else seen this? I think the bridge collapsed just after the cars departed from the starting grid.

Apparently spectators had gathered on the bridge to witness the start. Their weight was too much for the rickety structure and it collapsed. As far as I know. none of the drivers got hurt, since they just managed to stop inces away from the collapsed structure. Unfortunately I do not know about the well being of the spectators.

Sorry, a little late to react now, but Gerard van Lennep is not a third brother; he is a distant cousin of Gijs and David. Gerard, a journalist and writer, was a good friend of Carel Godin de Beaufort and also a really good driver himself (did several Monte Carlo's), although he crashed one of Carel's cars just out of the box.
Anyhow: Frank is right about Hildebrand's book 'Het gaat niet om geld', which is very funny and very entertaining. One of the few decent books about motorsports in Dutch. A couple of years ago Hildebrand published another book, 'Mijn vlegeljaren', but that's more or less an adaptation. There are not many new stories in it. The last couple of years, after Tonio had a stroke, the Zandvoort circuit publishes small anecdotes and stories in every racing program.

about the Van Lennep's: There was a guy called Van Lennep driving a Daf 55 in the London / Sydney Marathon of 1968. Do you know if this chap was Gerard, Gijs or maybe another Van Lennep not related with the familiy?

Without going and double checking it, I am confident it was Gijs van Lennep in the 1968 London to Sydney Marathon.

Pretty sure he also ran a DAF in the 25th Anniversary London to Sydney Marathon in 1993. But I seem to remember seeing him at the bottom of a sort of ravine in Turkey and think he went no futher. I think it was Turkey, certainly no later than Turkey.

I can (I think) look it up for you if you really want to know, but my books are harder to get to now than they used to be.

Sorry for a late post on this; haven't had time to check the Forum recently.
Gerard van lennep has NOTHING to do with Gijs, David and Hugo van Lennep.
The three brothers are Jhr. (Jonkheer) van Lennep and Gerard is "just" van Lennep, not noble and just having the same name but not related at all.
It was David who was in the DAF 55 in the London-Sydney with Peter Hissink.
David raced locally, including in his own Hirondelle and did a number of races for Racing Team Holland in the Porsche 904.
Hugo raced only a short time, including a Lotus FF for the Dutch National Racing Team. (which is not Racing Team Holland)

Originally posted by kstrt I think that Nova Lisboa and Luanda aren't the same place.

I recently got hold of a publication that was issued by the Automovel e Touring Clube de Angola in 1959 and that have full details on the 3rd Angolan GP and also the 3rd Taça Cidade de Luanda held on the "Circuito de Launda" on 20 September 1959.

The circuit map that is included differs quite a bit from the "Nova Lisboa" circuit, so I have to agree with kstrt on the issue of these two circuits not being one and the same.

The "Circuito de Luanda" of 1959 was also a street circuit and included the following streets: Avenida de Paulo Dias, Rua de Alvares, Rua Salvador, Av. dos Restauradores de Angola, Rua de Fransisco do Soveral.

Several nice pictures also show some of the competitors in the race. What strike me most, though, is the nice old buildings, nice facilities and general order. A far cry from the Angola of recent years.